180 SCANDINAVIAN REINDEER. 



Wild Eeindeer were formerly, it is believed, found 

 throughout the greater portion of the Scandinavian 

 peninsula ; but at the present day they are confined 

 to the more northern parts. They exist in large 

 herds on the more elevated mountain plateaux of 

 Norway but do not appear to descend lower than 

 the Birch-limit, about 3,700 feet above the sea-level, 

 and seem never to frequent the dense pine-forests 

 which clothe the lower slopes of the mountains. 



The principal food of the Keindeer during the 

 summer months consists of grass, and the foliage of 

 the dwarf willows (Salix glauca and S. hastatd). 

 They also feed on various species of cerastium, on 

 the buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), and they are 

 especially fond of the glacier buttercup (Ranunculus 

 glacialis), which is found only above the Birch-limit, 

 and extends considerably above the line of perpetual 

 snow, growing in clefts of slaty rock. This plant is 

 called " Een-blumme " or Reindeer-flower, in Norsk; 

 two varieties are known, one having white, the other 

 purplish blossoms. 



During the winter the Deer subsist almost 

 entirely on the Rein deer- moss (Cladonia rangife- 

 rinft), which grows on the higher parts of the " fjeld;" 

 where the snow does not lie so deeply, constant 

 gusts of wind sweeping over it, and causing it to 

 collect in ravines and sheltered corries. 



At the commencement of spring the Reindeer 



